County Fair Demonstration

My guild was asked to demonstrating fiber processing (specifically wool) in the sheep barn at the Washington County Fair in Hillsboro Oregon.  We were happy to ablige!  We demo'd for two days and educated a lot of people about the wonderful word of wool, hand spinning, and fiber arts.  The most fun was the 4H kids who were so enthusiastic to see what happens to the wool after harvested from the animals.  :)

A rare photo of me at an event!

We had two display tables:  The first held a dispaly of the process, fibers, tools, and some handspun, and me spinning at the end.  The second table had take-home sheets, finished goods, hand dyed yarn, and hand spun yarns and two of my guild mates; one knitting and one tatting.

 This is a close of up the display of hand spinning steps:

0) Raw wool on the sheep (we were demonstrating in a sheep barn!)
1) Washed wool fiber, with vm and not picked
2) Washed wool fiber, some vm removed, flick-carded
~~From this step on, it's all the same fleece.~~
3) Carded wool batt, ready for spinning.
4) Wool single, wound onto a toilet paper tube.
5) Two wool singles plied and wound into a hank, still on niddy noddy
6) Washed and set wool yarn, in loose hank
7) Wool hank twisted and labeled, ready to sell

other fibers

Handspun Yarn

Fiber processing / spinning tools

Finished Goods table

Freebies: pattern, color pages

Hand dyed yarn, sock-in-progress

My hand knits, and a friend's atted lace

My handspun, various fibers

My design

Rachel's Pasta Sauce (Recipe!)

Today I am making my pasta sauce!  It's been quite a while since I've made it since I haven't been going to Cash & Carry, where I get my large tomato bases.  But I went with a friend yesterday.  Woohoo!  Last night I prepped all the vegetables, and this morning I got cooking. It's now simmering happily away on the stove top.  I'm looking forward to some delicious sauce this evening!  :D

(Please excuse the bad photo.  It's an old one and I didn't have a good resolution saved.  I'll likely take a new pic tonight.)

Rachel's Pasta Sauce

Slowly cooking this sauce over many hours makes all the difference, allowing the flavors to marry and mature! Start it in the morning and eat / freeze/ can in the evening.

If your crock pot is big enough it would be an excellent alternative.

Course: Sauces

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 45 min
Cook Time: 6 hr
Total Time: 7 hr

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots
• ¹⁄₂ pound celery
• 1 medium onion ( 1/2 lb) diced
• 2 Tablespoons garlic fresh or dried, minced
• 1 large can (6lb 10oz) tomato puree
• ¹⁄₂ large can (6lb 6oz) diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons parsley
• 1 Tablespoon basil
• ¹⁄₂ Tablespoon oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 Tablespoons kosher salt
• ¹⁄₂ Tablespoon pepper
• ¹⁄₄ cup brown sugar
• Meatballs Optional

Directions

1. Dice the carrots and celery and put into a pot; add enough water to cover. Cook vegetables on medium heat until soft (about 20 minutes). Drain over a bowl reserving the water. Puree vegetables in a food processor, or blender until smooth, adding cooking water as needed.
 
2. Meanwhile, dice the onion and saute in oil or butter until soft. If using dried onion, use cooking water to hydrate and soften.
 
3. Set a stock pot on the stove on low. Add all ingredients, including the cooking water, into the pot. Simmer on low for several hours.
   Note: If you don't like a really chunky sauce, pulse the diced tomatoes in the food processor a few times. We like ours slightly lumpy in our house.
 
4. Adding meatballs: If using precooked meatballs, add to the sauce 1 hour before serving. Do not microwave to thaw frozen meatballs as it will toughen the meat. If using fresh meatballs, brown the formed balls in a skillet before adding them to the sauce to cook through. About 2- 3 hours.

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Nemesis Horns re-released!

Nemesis Knapsack has completed testing and has been re-released with updates!  

I really enjoyed working with the people in Ravely's "Free Pattern Testers" group. :). If you are a desugner, check them out. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nemesis-horns-free-pattern

Every yarn has a story...

Meet "Moody Cloud"

This yarn marked the beginning of my love affair with spinning.  The pencil roving had glorious color and an intriguing texture that made my fingers itch to work with it.  With my birthday money I bought the fiber from a friend, and borrowed her drop spindle.  With a few pointers we were off and running.  My arms ached but I still wanted to keep going.  I loved the transitions of one color to the next, fascinated with the whole process.  My children watched me wide-eyed as I played with color and fiber.

When it was time to ply I had so many variations that I could try.  I decided that I wanted to wind the single into a yarn cake and ply the center pull with the outside strand and just "see what the color does."  This was the best part!  What surprises I was in for.  Purples with purples, purples with pinks, and pinks with pinks.  Such a fun way to blend color.

Then I learned how to set the yarn by "thwacking" it.  Haha!  Such fun!

Now it's your turn to pick up the story.  Take this yarn home and write the ending.  Will the yarn become a purse?  Someone's toy?  You decide!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/243428978/handspun-yarn-moody-cloud?ref=shop_home_active_2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Handspun by Rachel's Cozy Knits & Designs
Fiber content: 100% wool
Color: "Moody Cloud"
2 plys
125 grams, 282 yards
13 wraps per inch, DK weight
Spun January 2014
Hand wash in cool water. Air dry.